Mr. Market is not stoked right now. He kinda hates uncertainty for uncertainty’s sake. That means even if everything else is fine, he’ll pout in the corner if he can’t see what’s next.  And that’s why we’re down 10%ish from our recent all-time highs. So should we run for the hills and stock up on […] The post Why I’m Doubling Down, Not Running For The Hills appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

It’s all gonna be alright.  Mr. Market is bigger than geopolitics even if the Doppler Effect of current events is deafening. For some perspective, I like to zoom out. During my investing lifetime, we’ve lived through 3 of the worst 5 S&P 500 drawdowns in history.  – COVID 19 (down 34%)– The Great Recession (down […] The post Mr. Market Is Bigger Than Geopolitics appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

5:38am this morning. I walk out my front door to hop in a Waymo. The Waymo is wrrrrring at the curb. In front of it is another car parked on the street. And double-parked to the left of the Waymo is a dude in a Prius.  We make eye contact. I give him a “Mornin'” […] The post appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

Yesterday I woke up feeling like hell. Head pounding. Sinuses imploding. Nose wasn’t running, but sprinting. I was a mess. So I took my 2nd (maybe 3rd?) sick day ever and rescheduled all my meetings. Hated to do it, but I was barely functional.  Without having to face the world, I tried to be productive […] The post Easing Off The Accelerator Is Sometimes The Fastest Way Forward appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

Imagine someone who is financially successful. Dollars to donuts, I bet you pictured someone with more than you – more income, more money, more things. But that is financial STATUS, not financial SUCCESS.  Status is relative. Success is absolute. Status is achieved or lost only by comparison. If you make $1,000,000 a year, in some […] The post Financial Status vs. Financial Success appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

My buddy Roman at Moneygeek.com hit me up again for some content. Here’s a link to the bit. And if clicking is too much, here’s the text: Can you explain how a $500,000 life insurance policy works and who it is best suited for? MISTAKE #1: YOU DON’T NEED IT If no one depends on you […] The post As seen in Moneygeek… Life Insurance – Do you really need it? appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

Before I do the “Rick” version of anything, I first copy play-by-play someone who’s done it (VERY) successfully before me. Ideally, it’s someone who has published their own “how to” at some point. If there’s no instruction manual, I’ll create my own by deconstructing their process and then piecing it back together. And I don’t […] The post Imitate before you iterate appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

I see two mistakes over and over again when it comes to life insurance. Mistake #1: Those who have it, who don’t need it. Mistake #2: Those who need it, don’t have enough. MISTAKE #1: YOU DON’T NEED IT If no one depends on you financially, then you don’t need a life insurance policy.    […] The post The two most common mistakes with life insurance appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

Michelangelo could’ve been a flight attendant. For an early (and very generous) Christmas present, my mom upgraded us to business class on our flight to Italy. (Thanks Ma!) We sat in the middle, so my wife was served by the flight attendant on the right aisle and I was served by the one on the […] The post How you do anything is how you do everything appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!? 2,000 years sounds like forever, doesn’t it? And yet at the dawn of Western Civilization, we were still kinda doing the same things. We loved our wine. We loved our food. We loved our sports. The details differed, but ancient Rome rhymed with modern times. Staring down at the Colosseum floor […] The post Money First Principles Never Change appeared first on Financial Zen ..read more